Rolling doors, ie, doors of the type made with hingedly connected panels have a number of different applications. One of the primary applications for these doors is to provide coverage for the entrance to a garage or the like.
Traditionally rolling garage doors have been made from either wood or metal. Such doors are heavy and encounter problems because of their wooden or metallic construction. For example wooden doors deteriorate over time and require relatively frequent refurbishing and/or painting. Metal doors have a tendency to rust and are very poor heat insulators because of their high thermal conductivity.
Both metal and wooden doors also suffer from the drawback that they are noisy to operate and they require, particularly in the case of the wooden doors, separate hinge connectors which are secured by mechanical fasteners to the door panels. These mechanical fasteners can loosen and release over time with use of the door.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,932 describes a moveable shutter formed from a series of hingedly connected panels having a thermoplastic or a polycarbonate construction. The panels of the shutter are held together by a snap connection providing a hinge between the panels. Although useful for small, light weight, shutters such a snap connection would not be capable of sustaining the weight of a much larger and heavier plastic panel as would be used for covering a large garage opening.